JEN SEVERN'S BLOG

I love using the crock pot.  It makes my Monday stress level drop in half.  This is a great recipe that our whole family enjoys.  There are usually some leftovers and it serves as a quick and heathy lunch for me all week. Beans 2 1/4 cups dried black beans (I use one bag) 4 crushed garlic cloves 1 onion chopped 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, veined, and chopped 12 cups of vegetable stock (3 boxes) 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon mild chili powder 2 teaspoons salt 8 to 10 flour tortillas Fillings: 1 cup chopped tomato 1 cup shredded lettuce 1 cup grated cheese Salsa Guacamole Sour Cream Place the beans in a large bowl, sorting through them and removing any stones.  Fill the bowl with water and let them soak over night.  In the morning strain and rinse the beans.  Place the beans in your crock pot.  Add garlic, onion, jalapeno, vegetable stock and seasoning.  Cook for 8 to 10 hours in crock pot. When finished, dr...

Brynn brought these to Kristina's farewell bash and they were flying off the plate.  She was getting compliments left and right on how delicious they were.  One of the secret ingredients is a box of vanilla instant pudding.  If you are a cookie monster like I am you must try these!  Thanks for sharing your recipe with us Brynn! Brynn’s Incredible  M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients 2  Cups All Purpose Flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 cup butter softened 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1 box of jello vanilla instant pudding pie filling 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips 1 cup of M&M’s For Altitude which we are here in CO add 1/4 cup of flour and 2 tsp. water (do it! they taste better) Pre heat  oven to 375 degrees F Combine  flour, baking soda, box of pudding in small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir...

These whoopie pies, my friend Jan sent to me.  Everything she makes is amazing and I am sure these will follow suit!  I can't wait to try this fall delight.  She got the recipe from the  Brown Eyed Baker's  blog .  It is amazing how many wonderful resources we have at our fingertips. Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling Yield: About 4 dozen assembled whoopie pies (will vary depending on how large you make them) Prep Time: 15 minutes | Bake Time: 10 to 12 minutes For the Whoopie Pies: 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup dark brown sugar 1 cup canola or vegetable oil 3 cups chilled pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin) 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract For the Maple-Cream Cheese Filling: 3 cups powdered sugar 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 4 ounces...

Vegetable Chop & Measure A well spent $29.95! I like to make a crock pot meal for our Monday night dinner.  It seems Monday's have enough hassle without dinner so I try to keep that simple.  Here is a really delicious potato soup from Fix It and Forget It called No-Fuss Potato Soup.  I have made it enough times that I have my own variation now.  I will share both mine and the original.  One hint to a great soup is finely chopped vegetables, for this I use my chopper from Williams Sonoma .  It's a great time saver!  Enjoy! 6 cups diced peeled potatoes 5 cups water (I ALWAYS use chicken stock, the kind that comes in a box.  It makes your soup tasty!) 2 cups diced onions 1/2 cup diced celery (I use 2 cups) 1/2 cup chopped carrots (I use 2 cups) 1/4 cup margarine, or butter 4 tsp. chicken bouillon granules (I omit this b/c I use chicken stock) 2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 12-oz can evaporated milk (I omit this to...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins 2 Spice Cake Mixes 1 30-oz can pumpkin 1 12-oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips Pre-Heat your oven to 350 degrees. All you do is add all 3 ingredients to a bowl and mix. (that’s it, you don’t need to add anything else) Scoop mixture into lined muffin tins.  Yields 36. They do not rise very much so fill the liners up. I have a medium scoop and I LOVE it. It worked great for this project. How they look going in is how they will look going out. Try a scoop. It’s makes them even more delicious looking.   Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Leftovers (well not at my house) but if you have them freeze them. These muffins are a great idea to add to a lunch or a snack on the run.  My kids devoured these! I liked them too but I added salt to mine. That’s strange, but I enjoyed them more?!? Recipe from  http://www.ourbestbites.com/

 Scott found this delicious steak marinade online.  We had it tonight on a Ribeye and it is AMAZING.  It is rich in flavor.  The steaks taste like they are from a gourmet steak house.  Mix it up and give this a try. 1/3 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup olive oil 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 1 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder 3 tablespoon dried basil 1 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley flaekes 1 teaspoon ground white pepper 1 Teaspoon minced garlic 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional) from allrecipes

These are amazing.  Another recipe I am hooked on from Stacey.  Thanks for sharing friend! 1 bag Snyder’s Butter Snaps pretzels, square or round Large bag of Rolo’s About 55 M&M’s (holiday colors are always festive)   Preheat oven to 215 degrees. Place a Rolo on top of a pretzel. Place on a cookie sheet lined w/foil. Bake 5 min. Take out of oven, top Rolo w/M&M, push down on M&M until Rolo spreads slightly.  Cool in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Variations:  The same basic recipe but you can change up the toppings.  Candy Cane Kisses (instead of Rolo).  Only bake for 3 minutes. Top with M&M’s. Rolo topped with Pecan (tastes like chocolate turtles) Rolo topped with Almonds (the nut of choice for me) Hershey’s Hugs (instead of Rolo). Only bake for 3 minutes.  Topped with M&M’s. The original is my favorite, but the Candy Cane Kisses are YUMMY and very Festive!  The nut variation is great f...

Snowflake Crunch   You just can’t stop reaching for another bite of this!  It’s a great Christmas time gift!  The recipe’s from Stacey Mahaffee, who I got to know while waiting at our childrens’ Elementary for our girls to be dropped off or picked up from Kindergarten.  Thanks for sharing Stacey!  You are always generous! 1 lb. white almond bark 3 cups Cheerios 2 1/2 Cups rice Chex 2 1/2 Cups Corn Chex 2 Cups Pretzel Sticks 2 Cups dry-roasted peanuts 2 Cups M&M’s (I always choose the holiday colors) Mix cereal, pretzel sticks, nuts and M&M’s in a very large bowl.  Melt almond bark according to directions.  (I melt mine for 3 minutes at half power and it seems to be great, but all microwaves are different).  Pour over mixture of cereal, pretzels sticks, nuts and M&M’s.  Mix to coat well.  Spread on Waxed paper.  Let stand until  cool.  Break into sm...

Grandma’s Toffee from Hilary Whiton 1 lb.  Unsalted butter  at  room temperature 1 lb. Sugar (2 Cups) 1 lb. Almonds (3 Cups) 9oz. chocolate (I use more!) Chopped Almonds Put two cookie sheets into a 200 degree oven to warm.  In a  dutch oven , melt butter over medium high to high heat.  Add sugar and almonds.  Stir occasionally.  It will be boiling.  After 10 minutes or so you should begin to hear the almonds “pop”.  It is usually ready at this point.  I use a  candy thermometer  and remove the candy from the heat at 302 degrees, which is “hard crack”.  Pour the toffee onto the heated cookie sheets and spread it as quickly as you can.  (TIP:  I put my cookie sheets over the sink, because the butter will pour off and make a mess of your counter.)  After the toffee cools completely, melt chocolate and spread it on top.  Sprinkle with the chopped almonds while the chocolate is still stic...

Hi Everyone!  Wow, can you believe Thanks Giving is right around the corner?  My kids and I are ready for a holiday!  I have the perfect snack for after school today OR just a nice project and treat for all of you to enjoy during the break!  This is SOOO YUMMY!  I know you will be happy you tried it!  I sure was!  Here is the recipe!  Pumpkin Pie Milkshake 1/3 Cup pumpkin, canned or homemade 1/4 – 1/2 Cup Milk 1/4 t vanilla 1/2 t cinnamon 1/16 t cloves 1/16 t nutmeg 2 T brown sugar 2 cups vanilla ice cream 1-2 graham crackers Put all the ingredients into the blender except for the graham crackers and mix.  If you would like a thicker milkshake add all the ingredients except for the ice cream.  Blend.  Allow the ice cream to soften a tad, then hand mix the ice cream in, or try a a hand held electric mixer.  Start with 1/4 cup of milk then add as needed.  I tripled this recipe (typical) and it still ...

Lee Casey just brought me a sample of these delicious Pumpkin Bars and they are a MUST!  YUMMY!  I told you all I was nuts about pumpkin.  Well here is another delicous treat!  Here is a link to the recipe! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-bars-recipe/index.html

4th of July Treats All by Martha Stewart.  There are 28 or so if you follow this link with the recipe.  Enjoy!  Beautiful and delicious! www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/red-white-and-blue-desserts#slide_1

Have you seen any of these fun Valentine’s Day ideas?  These are a few things, from other blogs and websites, that I found fun to look at!  A quick note: Don’t forget to enter our Give Away!  See the post below for details!  There are some great ideas in here that you can have a lot of fun with, and they may even save you a little money! This is my favorite free printable  iPod Valentine  for your kids.   Super cute from  Living Locurto !  Wow!  Nice work! Sweetie Pie Pops!  These are off the chart!  I would love to make these one day for my friends!  This is from  Our Best Bites .  Love them! Our Best Bites also made these great   “be my Sweetie Pie”  labels to go with their pies.  This is a free printable from them.  The link is below! I LOVE this  Valentine Printable !  These are absolutely adorable.  I would like to send these to my friends!...

Jen and Julianna:) Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cookies This recipe is from my dear friend Julianna! We have been friends sense our AOII days at CU. She was the faithful freshmen who came to my Bible Study at the house and turned out to be a friend for life. In our post college days I have gotten some of my most treasured, adorable and delicious recipes from her, especially the sweet ones! She just posted this on her blog and I had to ask if I could steal it for ours. YUMMY! What you need: Bag of mini Reese peanut butter cups Roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough Directions: Cut 1 inch off the Roll of Cookie dough. Then quarter the circle of dough. Grease a mini-muffin tin. Drop quarter of dough into each mini muffin slot. Bake as directed on the Pillsbury dough container (about 7-10 mins at 350 degrees). While cookie dough is cooking unwrap the peanut butter cups and put them on a plate. As soon as cookies are done cooking place the peanut butter cups in the middle of ...